A Utah woman being held hostage by a former boyfriend sent the following Christmas Eve message via Facebook. "Hello," it said. "Is anyone out there? I am having a serious problem and me and (my son) will be dead by morning."

Anthony Wilson was accused of robbing several Detroit-area banks last year. Investigators from the FBI scoured Wilson's Facebook page to compare uploaded photographs he had posted with surveillance footage taken from the scene of the robberies.

Investigators matched up articles of clothing from the surveillance photos to clothing worn by Wilson in Facebook photos to help build the case against him, resulting in Wilson’s indictment.

Orange County, California Sheriff Sgt. Chad Hogan monitors Facebook and other networking sites to aid him in his investigations. “Sometimes they’ll air out their dirty laundry in posts, and it’s stuff I have no idea why they would ever make public. I never cease to be amazed.”

Things have not improved for criminals who use Facebook.

In an important ruling issued last week, New York U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley III ruled that an accused criminal cannot rely on the Fourth Amendment to hide evidence on his Facebook profile. Federal investigators gained access to a suspect’s profile using an informant who was “friends” with him on Facebook.

About Matt

An analysis of crime and punishment from the perspective of a former prosecutor and current criminal justice practitioner.
The views expressed on this blog are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions or postions of any county, state or federal agency.